Wonder Boy in Monster Land's nascent fusion of platforming and role-playing mechanics creates viable candidacy for M2's meticulous talents. If the SEGA AGES line continues to explore the breadth of Sega's catalog, games that inspired creators are just as valuable as games that empowered players. Wonder Boy in Monster Land is proud to be part of the former.
Wonder Boy in Monster Land is a delightful game that has the problem of not being Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap. The latter is the most celebrated member of Wonder Boy’s bewildering lineage and received a tender and beloved 2017 remake on modern platforms. Wonder Boy in Monster Land, meanwhile, was a lesser inflection point and has the dubious honor of only appearing on the Master System top ten lists. As an arcade original or Master System port, Wonder Boy in Monster Land was only king of a tiny island.
As a member of SEGA AGES’ emerging line on Switch, Wonder Boy in Monster Land‘s arcade port is left in an atypical position. Its platforming is crude but effective while its combat is cruel and serviceable. Both of these facets are recurrent in late 80’s arcade games. What saves Wonder Boy in Monster Land, however, is its embryonic execution of role-playing game mechanics and the attention it devoted to world progression. What Wonder Boy in Monster Land tried to say was more effective and important than how the message was ultimately delivered.
Wonder Boy in Monster Land stars our hero Tom-Tom and spans twelve levels environmentally diverse levels. Castles, jungles, deserts, and tropical islands run the gamut of Typical Platformer Biomes. Somewhere in each level is a door to a boss the must be defeated with Tom-Tom’s sword or his magic projectiles. This victory coughs up a key which allows progression to the next level. Between entry and exit are a variety of tricky moving platforms along with nefarious bats, ghosts, goblins, and skeletons. Opposition is in no short supply.
The levels of Wonder Boy in Monster Land are also loaded with townsfolk who demand Tom-Tom pays for the wares necessary to save the kingdom. Killing enemies usually grants points but sometimes provides gold. Gold can be exchanged with vendors for tiered levels of serious upgrades. Boots can make Tom-Tom move faster while shields can automatically block incoming projectiles. Drinks can restore your hearts and armor can soak up some damage. Unless you’re into the masochistic pleasure of beating games under an intense set of arbitrary rules, it can pay to dally around the screen to respawn and re-murder roving enemies.
You’re timed, by the way. Seemingly aware that players would be glad to spend eons of time generating infinite gold, an hourglass in the left corner of the screen measures your available time. Time can be increased with collectible pick-ups earned and hidden throughout each level. Given Wonder Boy in Monster Land’s short run-time—completing the game without repeated failure should require under an hour—time isn’t usually an obstacle.
Most of Wonder Boy in Monster Land’s acute challenges can be mitigated with a controlled form of cheating. Hidden throughout each levels are invisible tiles that, once touched, reveal considerable gold deposits or doors to secret shops. How anyone determined the locations of these things in 1989 is an absolute mystery but, today, they’re all conveniently noted in guides or YouTube videos. There are few aspects of videogames more appealing than discovering secrets so, relative to its time and place, it’s neat that Wonder Boy in Monster Land is loaded with them.
There is also a vague sense of world progression trapped inside of Wonder Boy in Monster Land’s threadbare narrative. A fortune teller can inform the player about future challenges. You can also receive a letter to give to a vendor in a future level for an additional bonus. These are extremely minor details! But they’re representative of an attempt to create continuity in a time when a game’s story didn’t progress far past the start screen.
The remainder of Wonder Boy in Monster Land unfolds as a platformer friendly to repeat play-throughs. Taking down bosses is a simple matter of learning their patterns and moderating extraneous aggravations (like an endless horde of angry, sentient mushrooms) or, in the case of a Sphinx, answering a quiz. Getting the best equipment, often a reflection of how much secret gold you could dig up, adds variation to future sessions. Wonder Boy in Monster Land aspired for more than a left-to-right platformer, and, even though it had to patch its holes with myriad invisible secrets, served as a predecessor to the 16-bit generation of software.
M2’s conversion of Wonder Boy in Monster Land comes with a few modern conveniences. The first is the ability to pump the credit button if you die, essentially allowing infinite continues. Another is a Power Up New Game that allows the player to carry their equipment over to the next play-through. A challenge mode with carries two time attack and one score attack objectives complete with online rankings. M2’s obsessive commitment to accuracy doesn’t leave a lot of room for extraneous bells and whistles, but this port Wonder Boy in Monster Land is improved by these adjustments.
Wonder Boy in Monster Land’s nascent fusion of platforming and role-playing mechanics creates viable candidacy for M2’s meticulous talents. If the SEGA AGES line continues to explore the breadth of Sega’s catalog, games that inspired creators are just as valuable as games that empowered players. Wonder Boy in Monster Land is proud to be part of the former.
